Putting 21 Month Olds Hair in Ponytail

Buy a small toy that she's been wanting and only give it to her to play with when she's having her hair fixed. Something that she can concentrate on and causes minimal movement would be best. Or if you're creative, think up a story and tell her new episodes each time you fix her hair. Or sing to her while fixing it, but quit singing (quit telling the story, take away the toy) when she doesn't sit still and cooperate.

My daughter is 22 months. Shes does pretty good for me now when pulling her hair up. She didn't really like it at first. So I tried to find something to keep her occupied. She really likes to brush her teeth. So I'll sit her on the bathroom counter brush her teeth then give her the toothbrush. Then pull her hair up. No fuss, no nothing shes totally distracted the whole time. When I'm done I'll show her in the mirror and say "pretty". She smiles and giggles at herself, and wants to show her daddy. I don't know if helped at all but good luck to you.

Hi. It's so fun when they can finally wear ponytails, etc. My daughter's hair was long enough at 18 months. I could actually do a full french braid at 18 months! They only way I could do it though was when she was sitting in the high chair. It's not easy but if you start early then they just get used to it. Now she loves it. She brings the brush and ponytail holders to me. She's 2.5. Good luck!

My neice used to be the same way. She had (and still has, lol) the most beautiful blonde curls that were just begging to be put up in pig tails. Mom never had any luck with her though, she wouldn't even hold still for 5 seconds. I was watching her in the mornings, and mom would drop her off and make sure I had a few pony tail holders just in case I could wrangle the hair up. (That's another thing to watch out for....she may enjoy pulling them out!) What I did was get her a "Tabbie chair" just her size, that I made a big deal over. That was her princess chair, and that is where princesses sat to have their hair fixed. I gave her an old cabbage patch doll (the ones with the "corn silk hair" and a brush and asked her to fix the dolls hair while I fixed hers. While she was distracted with the doll and happily jabbering about princess this and princess that, I pulled her hair up in a quick pony. THEN, I took her to the mirror to show her how pretty she looked with it up. That was all she wrote....if she pulled the holder out, she would bring it to me, bring her chair to me, and sit down for me to fix it. The best part is, that mom didn't have any problems with her after that either. (Though mom dedicated the bathroom counter the "princess counter" as opposed to the princess chair.)

i used to always let my daughter sit between my legs on the couch and watch her favorite show while i fixed her hair. she never moved!

I did 2 things when getting ready to do ponytails: First, practice on a baby doll. I wanted to be fast with my band. It helped. Second, I would only pull up her hair (at first) while she was completely distracted - watching Cinderella, Pooh, Elmo, whatever worked. If I was quick and did not fuss too much, then she was fine. After several days of pulling it up, she would sit still for me.
Also, don't be too worried about perfection. Chances are good it will come down before you are ready.
Good luck!

find someone that she looks up to, and find a picture of them in a ponytail. Show her how "smart" and beautiful she is with her ponytail.

If you have tried doing it when she is distracted with her favorite show and it did not work, do it when she is asleep.

Good luck and God bless,

It depends on her personality. Mine was so laid back then that I just sat her in my lap and got done ASAP. But, if yours is really active, I suggest do it while she is eating. That way you can stand behind her chair, and she is not only occupied, but strapped in!

let her play with another poly tail or the brush. thats they only way i could get mine to sit... or even pop sicles I know odd but hey it worked!

put a movie or children's show on for her. something she hasn't seen before. This is what I did with my daughter. She is now 6 and it's a very easy process now. She's so used to it.

Distract while your doing it like maybe put on a tv. show or movie tha she likes.

Oh this one is easy for me to answer. All you have to do is give your little girl a doll and a brush and while she brushes her baby dolls hair, you are brushing her hair and pulling it back into a pony tail. Be quick about it. I usually had stood or sat my daughter in between my legs where she is kinda blocked in but not totally. Letting her do what you are doing to her gives her a sense of playing perhaps beauty shop or dressing up. Once you have a routine of doing this over and over, she will be a champ at sitting still for you. Pray this works for you.

LYNN

Tell her she is a 'big girl' now with long 'big girl' hair and if she wants to have her hair up in a ponytail like a 'big girl' she will have to sit still for a few minutes.The more you do it the faster/quicker you will get at fixing her hair.Hope this helps..
S. B

Haha - good luck! Sometimes I would give mine lip gloss to put on while I did her hair (this was one of her favorite things), but nothing gets them to sit still for long. But, don't be too distressed, eventually you will be the master of getting a straight ponytail as she runs in circles! Practice makes perfect and starting early helps them adjust to having their hair up, so they won't pull it out after 5 minutes. Haha - gotta love little girl's hair!!!!

With my daughter, putting her in front of the TV worked well... Unfortunately, she wouldn't leave the ponytails in all day; it sounds like your daughter may be the same, so don't be surprised!

This is going to sound a bit mean I'm sure, but when my daughter was littler I would sit on the couch and her on the floor between my legs. I used my knee area to hold her head still (gently) while I QUICKLY put her hair up. After a while she stopped fighting.....Now I just tell her to hold still so I can do her hair.
Good luck.
T.

Give her a handheld mirror so she can watch you. It will distract her while you put in the ponytail. You can even play peek-a-boo with her while she's looking at you in the mirror and you are working on getting the ponytail in.

Give her something to hold that interest her while you quickly put her hair up,and get those rubber bands that doesn't break or pull their hair.When she see it doesn't hurt she will probably be more willing to let you. Most little ones first experience is usually a lasting one. When you brush make sure all the tangles are out because if it hurts she will remember that the next time and she will not want you to do that. Hope this helps some. BLH

I know exactly what you mean! My daughter was practically bald with very fine hair for the longest time. It helped to sit on the floor with her between my legs. I would turn on a vibrant kid's show on PBS to distract her. It takes time for them to grow accustomed to something stuck to their little heads, but eventually they'll leave it in. My daughter used to pull out her ponytails only moments after I put them up. Don't be discouraged! Each time you do it, she should leave it in longer than the time before. If that doesn't work, my friend always gave her daughter a special snack while watching t.v. Hope it works for you!

Along with all the other great advice I want to tell you this. If she lets you do it with minimal fuss, don't try to re-do it. The more times you pull and yank and brush, the more agitated her scalp will be. After a while, she will probably care more about her head not hurting than all the fun she can have. I've learned from experience. I ended up making my oldest girl hate having her hair fixed. She's five and just now wanting to let her hair grow so we can style it. Keep it fun and quick! She's perfect in every other way. Her hair doesn't have to be.

I have 2 little girls 7 y/o and a 2 y/o. It is very hard and you have to be quick... LOL ... Don't worry about if it is perfect cause they are going to pull at it and mess it up in a matter of a few min. But I have found that a spray bottle helps with getting a few extra seconds... I spray their hair and then give them the pray bottle and they play with that and I brush and pull it up as fast as I can. Also I would get the rubber bands that does not break your hair off. My 7 year old just cut her hair off and donated it to locks of love.. she still has hair down to her shoulder blades,but when I took her to get it cut we found that the other rubber bands were breaking her hair off so bad you could see the ring a round her head where her hair was broke off. Good Luck!!

My daughter is 21 months also and I also just started putting her hair in a ponytail. What has worked for me in to sit her down and let her play with something she isn't normally allowed to have. (nothing dangerous, just some of my bathroom items) I tell her its "time to do our pretty hair" and she is so entertained by what I gave her, she sits as long as I need her to. Hope that helps!

I have a 23 month old and we've been doing her hair for sometime. She's the only one of our four girls that was born with a considerable amount of hair (it's down to her waist right now). She doesn't mind us doing her hair as long as it's fast. I, usually, put her hair up in a half pony tail. That's just taking the hair from about the top of the ears and up and pulling it back into a pony tail.
Also, she sees the other girls get her hair done and she wants to get hers done too. When she's particularly fussy, we fix her hair at meal time when she's in her high chair.

Try sitting her in front of a mirror so she watch what you are doing and tell her step by step what you are doing. Or make it a game and tell her you are going to play "beauty shop!)

i let my daughter sit in front of the miror while i do her hair. and give her something to play with. or set her on the floor and let her watch a favorite video while your fixing her hair. you just have to make sure to get it done quickly becasue no matter what you do, a little has a very short attention span and isn't going to sit for too long.

Give her a small toy to hold or something to manipulate so you can predict where she'll be looking. I also count out loud while I'm doing my daughters. She's learning her numbers and she seems content to count along with me. "Let's see if Mommy can get this in by 10. 1.....2....3....4....etc).

She probably won't keep the ponytail in her hair at that age either. I've been babysitting since the age of 12, and i worked in a daycare for a while, and every girl I babysat, or took care of, would yank out the ponytail. I think it hurts their head. The last girl I took care of, I constantly had to put the ponytail bk into her hair, and she was constantly pullin it out. It was more of a battle of wills than anything!
You can try putting her hair up while she's sitting in her highchair eating breakfast. That's most likely the best time she'll be sitting still long enough to get her hair done.

I did what Tashina did. My oldest never sat still so I kept her hair cut short. My youngest learned and had hair down to the middle of her back. It takes patience too!!